Theories of Creativity and Culture - Essay Example

THEORIES OF CREATIVITY AND CULTURE Masters in Social Entrepreneurship Sustainability and Source ofFunding In the old days, during the emergence of social enterprises, it was obvious that there was a lack of clear and robust structures within this type of organizations. Substantially, the weak structure of social enterprises back then, had a direct impact on its progress and level of development. There was a massive amount of social enterprises’ failure to succeed when they were firstly initiated, which was driven by the lack of sustainability and irregular funding sources. In general, social enterprises have to work effectively to maintain sustainability in the organizational workflow hence enabling the sector to prosper. One of the direct factors that have imperative effect on the sustainability of social enterprises is the source of funding. Besides many other factors that contribute to a sustainable social enterprise, this part of a maintained source funding is essential. Any Social Enterprise has to be self-reliant on the work and services that practitioners in the organizations offer to the customers (Ko, 2012). Significantly, some organizations in the social sector are funded by grants; therefore, sustainability depends on repeated funding. Without this form of funding, the organization will no longer be valid (Thompson, 2008). As mentioned earlier, a key success factor for real entrepreneurship lies in the ability to secure funds, achieve outputs and deliver perceived value. Principally, sustainability is essential in a social enterprise for the sake of prosperity, yet more challenging sight is the long-term viability of this sector. Substantially, a conducted research was dedicated to examining on long-term sustainability of social enterprises that are stated by Schorr (2006), where it shows two different ways to pursue long-term sustainability. The first way is developing new business models for various social enterprises, which will result in a scale that generate profits and reinvest it in the direct and indirect business costs (Ibid, 2006). On the other hand, development of the ongoing funding sources to subsidize the gap and find permanent funding subsidies for their activities is a crucial factor for consideration. However, this view encourages social enterprises to evolve and be independent and able to commerce by trading with services and products of the SE. It is also considered that the social enterprises often fund a percentage of their total costs of approximately 80% to 90% of their generated revenue. A quite compelling case can be argued that these ventures are amongst the most efficient as well and can deliver long-term sustainability (Schorr, 2006). Moreover, non-profit organizations and social enterprises are primarily philanthropic and have an explicit aim to serve and benefit the community. Additionally, there are countable factors that might be a threat to philanthropic based organizations, which includes the reliance on irregular funding sources and the pool of financial subsidies (Ibid, 2012). In accordance to Johnson (2001) classification of some "global trends of social transformation" that contributes to developing the sector of social enterprises results in increment of a “diminishing pool” of grants and donations from unmaintainable and irregular sources. The social transformation decline thus proves social enterprises as donation-oriented and changes their performance to innovation-oriented. Lowering the reliance of social enterprises and its dependence on the pool of grants from being donation-oriented will eventually require a substitution. These are clearly presented in delivering of services and products by the practitioners to the clients in the social enterprises. In this emerging case, self-reliance will fundamentally increase in social enterprises through creation of its source of funding where the generated revenues from it can be reinvested in the purpose of the organization (Schorr, 2006). These factors will most probably increase the level of independence and self-sustaining. Besides, social enterprises can manage to exist and succeed for a long period and be self-reliant. The secret behind this success can be realized only by concentrating on how a social enterprise can generate revenues, be self-sufficient both on commercial and business sides to provide a sustainable social enterprise. Conclusion Social enterprises are the emerging sectors nowadays. They combine both philanthropy background and commercial mission. Several characteristics should be valid and existing in and organization to distinguish between social enterprises than other NPOs. As mentioned earlier, the core purpose of a social enterprise is the social mission, which eventually increases community wealth (Dees, 2001). A delicate line can be used to distinguish between two vital and interrelated terms; social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. Surprisingly, some social enterprises are less entrepreneurial; likewise some social enterprises may not be led by entrepreneurs as well (Thompson, 2008). Social and philanthropy aspects were introduced in Saudi Arabia in earlier decades. It is acknowledged that the law in the KSA is based on Sharia, which stems from Islam religion. Therefore, the social part and the community wealth can be delivered through one of the five pillars of Islam, which is ‘Zakaat’ as a form of giving in Islamic community and a way to increase wealth amongst deprived persons and empowerment. Additionally, another form of giving in Saudi can be considered as an informal giving, which can be demonstrated through ‘Sadaqah’. In the previous decades, there have been some matters towards women like gender inequality in Saudi Arabia, which requires a substantial revolution. However, tremendous improvements are being commenced to support women and lower this gender inequality paragon. The initiatives are government oriented and comprise of alterations and development. Much focus is purely on including women in the Shura Council “Saudi Arabia’s parliamentary body,” where they can contribute to many areas that need crucial attention in the area (UK Government, 2015). The idea and initiative of mostaqbali group to support women empowerment in Saudi Arabia, stems up from a firm belief of the group members, towards Saudi women and their high capabilities. Mostaqbali meaning ‘my future’, is a group that focuses on less privileged and deliver the awareness of individuals of different age groups to facilitate their ambitions and accomplish their dreams through a focus on their bright future with a strong and positive energy. This group is a perfect example to start a social enterprise in Saudi and point out some of its interrelated issues. Globally, when it comes to social enterprises and its uncertain legal structures, some issues contribute and directly affect the targeted organization. Regarding this, three crucial factors have to be considered when starting a social enterprise. This will eventually have a direct impact on the progress of the organization as identified in this paper. Firstly, social enterprises have to financially viable and meet the double bottom line in order to advance and develop its work on long-term sustainability. This can be concluded by having a thorough consideration of both the commercial part and the fundamental social purpose. Moreover, this view is justified by an argument that; preferring the social objective of the SE, and assuming the importance of the business and fund generation side becomes hazardous, hence it might result in a lack of financial viability and an apparent progress of the organization (Ko, 2012). Secondly, a clear mission is essential in social enterprises since this sector is principally devoted to increasing the good impact on the community. Therefore, when a purpose is clear, the percentage in goal deliverance of this enterprise to meet its objective will be much higher. When it comes to the core mission, preferences will differ from one social enterprise to another. Some social enterprises will choose the social mission; others might choose the financial or commercial aim, which can be equally obtained, hence referred to as hybrid structures (benevolent, 2013). Finally, one of the most important terms in a social enterprise is sustainability. The work of the enterprise has to be sustained and focused for a long-term purpose. Therefore, the paper reviews numerous arguments based on sustainability to ensure some replacement for irregular source of funding, donations and the reliance on subsidies are met. A more sustainable way is that a social enterprise should work hard and flourish the commercial and trading part in its work to generate its funds and be self-reliant for future prosperity (Schorr, 2006). To sum it up, preferences as previously mentioned differs from a social enterprise to another; therefore, the three most relevant issues have to be considered when opening a social enterprise. These issues are based on research, existing literature, as well as the incorporation of personal experience in mostaqbali group throughout its journey. This paper and the conducted research will immensely be beneficial for mostaqbali group to continue in delivering its core mission and purposely start mostabali’s social enterprise. References Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, online, available at: http://www.oecd.org/regional/leed/37753595.pdf Accessed on 02/Jan/2015. Read More